If you were tuned into the BlackBerry World 2012 keynote, then you already saw what Pacemaker is and how it works. However, if you missed out on that coverage then now is as good a time as any to go ahead and get yourself up-to-date because right now Pacemaker is available in BlackBerry App World awaiting your push of the purchase button.

With it, you'll be able to mix, sync, and scratch digital music on your BlackBerry PlayBook, as well as apply effects, loop, and much more to provide a rich DJ experience. Having seen it in action first hand, it's pretty awesome to mess around with though it does take some time before you can kick out some block rocking beats.

Need to see it in action before you hop in? Check the video below and make sure you hit the download link as well to grab Pacemaker from App World, after all the developers chose the BlackBerry PlayBook because it's running on the only "true, real-time operating system" on a mobile device and for highlighting that fact they deserve some love. While it is pretty steep at $19.99, you can always check out Pacemaker Lite to see if it's for you. Plus, you know -- remixin some Beastie Boys on it is just straight up badass! RIP MCA!

Oh My. I pay my $20 (count also an extra note for the audio split cable :http://store.griffintechnology.com/dj-cable ) and you know what ? I've not been happy to spend money like that since ... what ... my Playbook ? Yes.

In other words, minimum wage for UK is 1.3x greater than the US minimum wage.

Note this only compares directly minimum wage, NOT things like cost of living, etc.

That being said, a $20 product to a minimum wage worker in the US would be equivalent to a $26 product in the UK.

However, £20 is equivalent to $31.06. So the UK residents are paying $5.06 more for the product after accounting for minimum wage discrepancies.

Which means, unfortunately, that a greater portion of your income would go towards this app between equivalent workers in both areas. In fact, a UK worker would need to work 3.29 hours for this product, while a US worker needs only to work 2.76 hours for the same purchase.

Question : it says it automatically matches the speed of the songs (Beats per minute), but is there a way to match pitch? For example, if two songs have the same 4 chords in a row, but are different pitches (ones higher), can they be matched without distortion?
Also, do you choose the songs you want to mix from your mp3s on the playbook? Or is there a list of songs you choose from in the app?

Hi Troll. I don't need the dev to tell me about the benefits of the QNX OS. I already know it's the best out there and they clearly chose it because of the low latency and real-time benefits of the OS. Good luck with your mash-ups on other OSes where you won't get the perfect mix that the PlayBook is capable of!

Actually... when it was first posted, it did say FREE, but it was changed. Does anybody know what the difference is between the lite version and full version? If I decide to upgrade, will I have to shell out $20, or $15?

This is amazing. It feels like a real DJ device opposed to an app. Hope I don't ruin the awesome price, but I would pay at least 50 bucks for this. I'm already having a great time with it. Thank you Pacemaker and great job.

Busy downloading the full price app. Bought it to support the developer(s)... any developers bringing great apps to the PlayBook first / very early have my support. And I'm looking forward to using it!

Tried it out on my lunch break. I really like it. Takes some getting use to BUT, it has been crashing on me. I did a restart but that did help. IM low on memory on my PB, down to 2 GB storage, would that have an effect on its performace?? if not, i hope they catch the issue and do an update soon.

I bought it for £20 and didn't think twice. That's like the equivalent of ~ 6 pints of beer in the UK, which will prove more memorable I wonder? What is a joke is all the 'penny pinching' Playbook owners mouthing off like they've been wronged. Sheesh.

anson1331
i had the same issue with other downloads. The reason i was getting it is because i was low on memory storage space. Check your playbook to see where you are at. You might have to delete some apps or games before you download anything else.

I have to say I'm pretty stoked with it. The file management suits me to a friggin T!
So good, I wish all the playbook apps' like the e-readers' could replicate its.
It does appear to be a bit temperamental, couldn't use it for a real set until that gets sorted.

Major disappointment, split headphone output. It does do the job, and I suppose it lessens the load on the OS. However, this actually two stereo (headphone/speak channel and the HDMI channel) outs AND a set of beautiful speakers that seem to be tied to the headphones. Also another way to get that stereo out could be done over bluetooth. I just wonder how much buffer would be required to lock with the headphone channel. Maybe its the timing sync issue is why its not here. I hope this sells well so they can R&D that, maybe with a little help from RIM too as they're so keen to help developers. I wonder if it were possible to use the HDMI, in which I suppose you'd have to use a DAC (digital to analog converter) of some sort.

The drag on the decks and bump on the deck will take a little getting used to, but I think Ill get with it with some practice. Im also having a bit of time adjusting to the circular 'knobs'. I personally feel a linear fader lends itself better to touch than rotary, however it does seem they've really nice job with the interface. Its stunning.

If you're on the fence an want to be able to DJ. Buy this. The value for such a feature rich dj rig is unreal. I'm a dj and have used all sorts if toys and tools from 1210's to serato and dvj's. I've got a pretty good idea of quality pro kit and I'm astounded at what you get for $20. If they sort the stability thing out, I'd likely take this with me out. Other than that, this should be great for a little street side party or a nice little beach thing in the summer. This will really fit the bill.

This is one of the best apps I have used. The software is awesome and behaves just like a cdj. Lots of extras too. If your not sure about the $20, it is well worth it. You will not be sorry especially if you dj or even would like to try it out. Blow your grandma away with your silky reverbs and backspins

I dj at family related parties and events, and have thus far just used my laptop with winamp and crossfade. Those are my "dj toys". This app give me a whole new world of abilities to add effects and interact with the playlist. The biggest thing for me is that this app give me the ability to INTERACT with the music without the added cost of turntables and additional items (that I would then have to carry to the aforementioned parties)

I'd like to be able to connect my PB to the laptop so I have access to my full library (for drag and drop), output the playbook audio to a mixer or speakers. I haven't tried this setup yet because I was mixing down to the last 1% of battery on the PB!!

$20 is cheap. $20 will get you a typical large pizza + wings + pop at Pizza Pizza vs. Pacemaker for LIFE! My choice has already been made.

Shoutouts to the Crackberry team and all the people who make up the community. It's really nice here.

I've been DJing for about ten years and I love the app. It's worth $20 easily.... I mean, DJ equipment for less than $100 is generally a super bargain anyway, and this is a fairly complete setup which really works in a fluid way. There are more than a few things I hope they address, but for a first release, they are well on their way to a genuinely exciting, and tiny, mobile DJ experience.
The mixing and looping capabilities are good enough to throw down some cool stuff right away without a headphone splitter, and the effects, while somewhat sparse, have an ok quality sound. The reverb, for example, sounds awesome in small doses, but gets ugly when turned up too much. I don't know all the specs, but realtime audio effects processing uses a lot of cpu, and I am able to get echoed and filtered loops going in Pacemaker, and still use MorphWiz on top for weird solos. LOL it's pretty nuts.
I have had two unexpected crashes so far in the two days I've had the app, both times when in the track browser, sorting by genre or bpm. This needs to be addressed ASAP.
The sync function works ok, but it throws stuff off by a beat or two sometimes. The pitch bend should be made into buttons, the platter spinning is tedious for that feature, because there is no visual feedback. I do like the rotary style eqs and effects, even though you can only adjust one parameter per deck at a time, they are very smooth. I like using the hi-lo filters on both decks at once, to blend and kill tracks in a different way than crossfading.
I'd like to be able to zoom the waveforms on the top of the screen; they are not as useful as they could be, even though they look cool, lol. The headphone output is very versatile, and can be used for running two channels of audio to an external dj mixer. This is the icing on the cake for me. Of course, two stereo hdmi audio channels would be better, but I'm not holding my breath. That said, the app is tactile enough to dial things in without headphones for the casual user, with one cue point and one adjustable loop per track.
A vu-meter would be good too, because it is hard to tell what gain you are at sometimes, which leads to inconsistencies in output levels. The track browser should include the ability to edit ID3 tags as well. 320K mp3s sound great out of the 1/8" jack, but again, limit the usage to semi-professional standards.
I think this app will be loved by many, and if you have even a passing interest in DJing, think of it this way, this app still costs less than most new vinyl records do.

Okay, time for an updated review. After a few days of playing with this I have found the crashing to subside. It seems that pacemaker was scanning my library and now my tracks load superfast without needing to be loaded yet either. So, all my choons are ready to go and the app is much more stable. Let me know if you've noticed similar behaviors. Great news, I'm feeling better about using this. I brought this out to the bike rave here in Vancouver last Friday and it was exactly the right device for a mini party! I'm a big fan now!

Also, has anyone figured out what the 'digital' button does?
Has anyone figured out how to bump forward and drag similarly to cd decks? I'm finding the turntables to small to get predictable results.

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